[Stuart]

The ones that were/are "high on the list" being Nottingham, Birmingham, Hull, Leeds, and Tunbridge Wells (in that order).

Whichever region is next will therefore be the exact middle region to get done - 6th out of 11. The 5 remaining English Regional sites after that are inherently in the bottom half of the roll-out priority list.

Is it reasonable to assume that Salford and Plymouth are bottom of the list, as they’re already fully HD?

I certainly hope that Plymouth is bottom of the list for the downgrade to the new NBH-B style set. What they currently have is excellent, and of course they already operate using a fully HD kit.

Salford certainly need a set upgrade, which they'll do once Breakfast depart and Sport vacate NWT's second set.

[cable]

I recon internet delivered Freeview would provide HD quality when it finally launches. With most things being HD as standard these days, anything but would be a waste of time. With some modern standards, it won't matter if you don't have a fiber connection or have low speeds, were not talking about UHD here.

With WRC23 (or 27 if they do eke it out for a few more years) will see the frequencies will go to the mobile operators in the interests of innovation. Traditional TV providers are stuck using outdated standards like MPEG2/4 and are increasingly inefficient, it's a shame the CE industry didn't invent swappable modules that improve the capabilities of the ability to process newer standards, which would prolong the life of the TV and reduce E-waste. I recall Samsung doing something similar to improve the TVs smart capabilities but could have perhaps gone further!

Perhaps the future lies in 5G broadcast.

[TJTSW]

Is it reasonable to assume that Salford and Plymouth are bottom of the list, as they’re already fully HD?

I certainly hope that Plymouth is bottom of the list for the downgrade to the new NBH-B style set. What they currently have is excellent, and of course they already operate using a fully HD kit.

Salford certainly need a set upgrade, which they'll do once Breakfast depart and Sport vacate NWT's second set.

Have to agree Plymouth has an amazing set, under used, the soft area is so versitile, and they use it for special graphics for certain storys, 
the only thing id say id like to see change on that set which is aging it a bit is the background behind the desk, not sure what would suit it but needs either a fresh backdrop showing different views of the city, i know a few years back during breakfast they were sat on a bar stool and a table they had a great backgroud views so somthing like this

twitter.com 

[IanJRedman]

We've rather passed the point of being "high on the list" now.

There are now 11 BBC regional news studios still in use across England, outside of London (since the Oxford and Cambridge sub-opts were axed).

5 out of those 11 sites have either already unveiled their new LED set or are currently de-camped to a temporary set, so we're now nearly half-way through the roll-out.

The ones that were/are "high on the list" being Nottingham, Birmingham, Hull, Leeds, and Tunbridge Wells (in that order).

Whichever region is next will therefore be the exact middle region to get done - 6th out of 11. The 5 remaining English Regional sites after that are inherently in the bottom half of the roll-out priority list.

Is it reasonable to assume that Salford and Plymouth are bottom of the list, as they’re already fully HD?

Salford is presumably complicated by BBC Breakfast, which will possibly dictate what happens there? IIRC Plymouth's existing set was designed with HD in mind, which may or may not be a factor in the rollout.

[Worzel]

I'm curious to finally see how ropey Look East from Norwich with their 13+ year old set and even older cameras looks.

I'd like to think they'd be fairly high on the list for getting a new set, as well as studio and other upgrades.  If it hasn't already been stripped out they could in theory decamp to Cambridge for a couple weeks, which would be an improvement on current offerings from Norwich.

Would've surely made more sense if they'd refitted the set, gallery and done the necessary upgrades while Cambridge was still on the air.

[gottago]

Sky HD boxes were standard since 2010 and it took 13 years for the BBC to be willing to switch off SD regional news due to the amount of SD satellite boxes still in use. There will be many more SD Freeview boxes and TVs in use for years into the future and I can imagine a lot of Freeview users, particularly older and more casual viewers, have little interest in upgrading to more modern equipment. There were still loads of analogue TVs in use that had to have boxes installed when digital switchover happened. I think you're underestimating it quite a bit.

You can still watch HD channels on an analogue TV with the appropriate STB, you just get an SD quality picture through the SCART connection. If they require a new STB they are £25.

That's hardly the same argument as when switching off 405 Line TV because some people couldn't afford to spend 2 months wages on new equipment to receive colour TV in the 1970s.

I wasn't saying it was the same as switching off 405 line TV? 

It would be similar to digital switchover when people were required to buy £25 STBs to continue watching TV and it required a massive multi-year campaign to get people to do that.

[Spencer]

I certainly hope that Plymouth is bottom of the list for the downgrade to the new NBH-B style set. What they currently have is excellent, and of course they already operate using a fully HD kit.

Salford certainly need a set upgrade, which they'll do once Breakfast depart and Sport vacate NWT's second set.

Have to agree Plymouth has an amazing set, under used, the soft area is so versitile, and they use it for special graphics for certain storys, 
the only thing id say id like to see change on that set which is aging it a bit is the background behind the desk, not sure what would suit it but needs either a fresh backdrop showing different views of the city, i know a few years back during breakfast they were sat on a bar stool and a table they had a great backgroud views so somthing like this

twitter.com 

Ironically, what's on the screen there in 2018 looks very like the new Studio B style regional backgrounds.

[Moz]

So BBC One North West HD is finally available, but having retuned, tonight’s slight drizzle has been enough to knock out the signal even on SD, across most channels.

Are they trying to force us to stop watching via an aerial!?

[Stuart]

Have to agree Plymouth has an amazing set, under used, the soft area is so versitile, and they use it for special graphics for certain storys, 
the only thing id say id like to see change on that set which is aging it a bit is the background behind the desk, not sure what would suit it but needs either a fresh backdrop showing different views of the city, i know a few years back during breakfast they were sat on a bar stool and a table they had a great backgroud views so somthing like this
twitter.com 

Ironically, what's on the screen there in 2018 looks very like the new Studio B style regional backgrounds.

I was never really a fan of the 'bar stool & bistro table' set up for Breakfast, but the moving background was nice as I used to wait for the birds to fly past emerging from behind the vertical Spotlight banner graphic and I liked the rippling water effect.  I'm easily pleased at 06:30 when having my morning cuppa.

What you actually saw was just the presenter and the table/laptop, with the screen in full view behind. You didn't see the trolley carrying it or all the equipment underneath. There were no wideshots. That's what made it inferior to sitting at the desk (as they do now) or on the sofa (as pre-bar stool).

The main vista behind the desk in Plymouth for other programmes is already very similar to the NBH-B style sets, it's just changed using lighting effects rather than an LED screen. The only difference is they have to use plasma screens to display graphics for news items - but I can live with that.

[Brekkie]

So BBC One North West HD is finally available, but having retuned, tonight’s slight drizzle has been enough to knock out the signal even on SD, across most channels.

Are they trying to force us to stop watching via an aerial!?

Well "BBC ONE NWst HD" which as clumsy acronyms go is pretty clumsy - just "BBC ONE NW HD" would be fine.

Also how does overspill work on Freeview - does it only add channels which have a regional variation to your main channels?    For example I've long had Wales and West Midlands variations of BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and ITV1+1 variations in the overspill sections (our aerial points to WInter Hill), and now BBC1 West Midlands HD and ITV Central HD (but not the Wales equivalents) but not other streams of other channels on those muxes.